West Village Eurohostel: Nautical flair
When I entered the lobby and spotted the stuffed peacocks on the wall, mounted vertically with their faded tail feathers dangling, I knew the Jane Hotel, now the West Village Eurohostel, wasn’t a run-of-the-mill hotel.
Note added September 2, 2026: I wrote this review when the property’s name was the Jane Hotel. It’s now West Village Eurohostel. It looks much the same, but with an added euro-chic element. I’m changing the name in this article, but little else.
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I had suspected it already when I booked the room. First of all, it was suspiciously cheap for New York City – I paid $115 a night (more in the $200-225 range today). Yet its ratings on the booking engines were too high for it to be a fleabag. And, oddly, the room was listed as a “cabin.”
The West Village Eurohostel was built in 1908, designed by the same architect responsible for Ellis Island. It was a hotel for sailors, which explains the nautical look.
(Note: I paid full price and did not receive any form of compensation for this review. I just liked the place!)
My room at the West Village Eurohostel
My room certainly resembled a cabin on a ship. The single bed fit the entire length of the room, with about a meter of space to stand next to it. Fortunately, I’m not claustrophobic, and the large mirror on the long wall next to the bed helped to prevent me from feeling that the walls were closing in. The double rooms have bunk beds, fitting into the same floor space. Maneuvering in such close quarters with two people must be a challenge, but for me this small space was fine. There were shelves at the foot end of the room, and a large enough space under the higher-than-normal bed for my luggage.
If such a tiny room had been shabby in any way, it would have put me off, but the room was done in what I’d call “high-quality vintage” style. In other words, there were brass hooks to hang my clothes on and period-style lights and doorknob. These weren’t antiques, but a good restoration. The wall next to the bed was upholstered in old-fashioned cloth and paneled above that, though it looks like they’ve removed the wall fabric since them. The sheets were high-quality, as were the pillows. The only concessions to modernity were a flat-screen TV on the wall at the foot of the bed and an air-conditioner up above the small window, operated by remote control.
I was pleased to see that the towels provided by the hotel were big and fluffy, and that a roomy bathrobe was included for trips to the toilets and showers down the hall. The bathrooms were also done to period, with black and white tiles and those knobby hot and cold faucet handles. I’m not sure if a rain shower fits the period, but I liked it.
If you’re planning a trip to New York City, check out my article “New York City on a Budget: Free or cheap things to do“!
Other observations on the West Village Eurohostel
Downstairs, there’s a pleasant restaurant, but the real highlight is the bar/lounge. A huge ballroom-like room features a high ceiling and chandeliers, as well as a stuffed mountain goat occupying the massive mantelpiece. Large portraits fill the walls and big leather sofas and overstuffed armchairs are arranged in cozy groupings around the room, except where the bar extends along one side of the room. Incongruously, a disco ball hangs from the center of the ceiling. (If you go there, please let me know if this is still the case!)
Book the West Village Eurohostel for your trip to New York City.
The bar is clearly popular, and not just with hotel guests. Unfortunately, I was told to stop taking pictures before I managed to get any good ones. I would have liked to be able to get into the bar during the day because it would have been a good place to sit and write or read. Without a proper lobby, the West Village Eurohostel does not seem to have any common space. (From their website, it looks like this has changed, so it now has a proper lobby. Again, please let me know!)
The West Village Eurohostel sits on a residential street on the edge of the Meatpacking District, now rather gentrified. It overlooks the Hudson River, where the Hudson River Park is a great place for a walk or stroll. A few blocks from the subway, it’s also not far from the southern end of the High Line Park.
Overall, the West Village Eurohostel is a smart concept: keeping prices low by offering tiny but high quality rooms. Without the renovation it underwent in 2008, it might have ended up at the flophouse end of the hotel spectrum, but it’s avoided that fate with flair.
Judging by their pictures, it looks like the newer renovation that turned the Jane Hotel into the West Village Eurohostel has taken out quite a bit of the quirky decor, but it looks welcoming nevertheless. Please comment if you’ve stayed there since it became West Village Eurohostel!
My travel recommendations
Planning travel
- Skyscanner is where I always start my flight searches.
- Booking.com is the company I use most for finding accommodations. If you prefer, Expedia offers more or less the same.
- Discover Cars offers an easy way to compare prices from all of the major car-rental companies in one place.
- Use Viator or GetYourGuide to find walking tours, day tours, airport pickups, city cards, tickets and whatever else you need at your destination.
- Bookmundi is great when you’re looking for a longer tour of a few days to a few weeks, private or with a group, pretty much anywhere in the world. Lots of different tour companies list their tours here, so you can comparison shop.
- GetTransfer is the place to book your airport-to-hotel transfers (and vice-versa). It’s so reassuring to have this all set up and paid for ahead of time, rather than having to make decisions after a long, tiring flight!
- Buy a GoCity Pass when you’re planning to do a lot of sightseeing on a city trip. It can save you a lot on admissions to museums and other attractions in big cities like New York and Amsterdam.
- Ferryhopper is a convenient way to book ferries ahead of time. They cover ferry bookings in 33 different countries at last count.
- I’ve become an affiliate for VisitorsCoverage travel insurance, mostly because you should ALWAYS have travel insurance when you travel! You may be young and healthy and never get sick, but the fact is, sh*t happens, and it’s worse if you don’t have insurance!
Other travel-related items
- It’s really awkward to have to rely on WIFI when you travel overseas. I’ve tried several e-sim cards, and GigSky’s e-sim was the one that was easiest to activate and use. You buy it through their app and activate it when you need it. Use the code RACHEL10 to get a 10% discount!
- Another option I just recently tried for the first time is a portable wifi modem by WifiCandy. It supports up to 8 devices and you just carry it along in your pocket or bag! If you’re traveling with a family or group, it might end up cheaper to use than an e-sim. Use the code RACHELSRUMINATIONS for a 10% discount.
- I’m a fan of SCOTTeVEST’s jackets and vests because when I wear one, I don’t have to carry a handbag. I feel like all my stuff is safer when I travel because it’s in inside pockets close to my body.
Rachel Heller is a writer living in Groningen, the Netherlands. She is the owner and primary author of this website, Rachel’s Ruminations, a travel blog focused on independent travel with an emphasis on cultural and historical sites/sights. Read more here about her and about this website. All photos in her articles are her own, unless otherwise specified. Rachel also owns and operates a website about World Heritage travel.
It sounds ideal! As soon as I saw the picture of the room in the Jane Hotel, I thought: “How very ‘Titanic!'”
I like the idea of staff in old fashioned uniform, and agree that it could have gone one of two ways: I’m glad it caught up with the gentrification.
I hope NYC is on my list to go to again (and soon)…if so, I shall make a stop here.
Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! If you’re traveling alone, you’re on a budget, and you don’t mind sharing a bathroom, it’s a great choice.
Jane Hotel is an interesting concept and a nice way to keep costs down when visiting New York. Do they have double rooms too?
Yes, they have ‘cabins’ with bunkbeds and also regular rooms (‘Captain’s Cabins’ with en suite bathroom), but with the regular rooms you move into a more typical New York hotel price range.
I don’t stay in hotels often, since we take our ‘house’ with us wherever we go. But I really like the funkiness of this place. When we visited New York City in our camper, we drove in and out and straight to Connecticut, where we found a motel. From there we used the train to visit the city. Maybe if we’d known about this place we may have arranged to park our camper and spend a few days there. A cramped space is no problem for us…
If you’re used to a camper, you’d be fine in this place! Finding parking for the camper would be hard, though, and probably expensive.
I once wrote about this hotel and learned that it is hugely popular with Europeans. Thanks for sharing an insider-s look!
That’s not surprising. People like hotels with character, but can’t afford the top-end ones!
I lived in New York City for 20 years and am way overdue for a visit. The Jane Hotel looks like a fun and affordable base for such a trip. Also, I love the meat-packing district, not so far from The Village, where I lived all those years. Thanks for the detailed review, Rachel.
It’s a great place to stay if you’re on a budget but, like me, can’t stand hostels or fleabags!
Rachel, the Jane Hotel sounds like an excellent alternative in a city I love visiting. I like that district, too. Good recommendation.
It’s an interesting, fast-changing neighborhood, and off the beaten tourist track of midtown, but everything is easily accessible by subway a few blocks away.
The Jane Hotel is certainly unique. It kind of reminds me of the POD hotel in uptown which is almost absurdly compact, but so quirky you can’t help but like it.
My first requirement for a hotel is that it be very clean. Quirkiness is the extra something that makes a hotel special.